Fast Food Workers Need Higher Wages Essay -- Raise the Minimum Wage, F

Fast-food workers have been protesting for a minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour and the freedom to unionize. The workers have organized numerous protests this year. During the protests they have walked out and chanted slogans regarding their pay. The main fast-food companies that are effected is McDonald's and Burger King. They both have stated that they will not press charges and indeed are allowing the workers to return. These workers that are participating in the strike doesn’t represent the majority of the fast-food employees. The people participating in the strike are not only youths but adults and elders as well. Due to the countries low employment rate many of these workers are supporting a family or other dependents. This is where most of the fast-food workers are getting their motivation to protest this industry. Unfortunately, many Americans are questioning the negative economic effects of their proposed wage and their lack of worthiness to receive that big of a pa y raise. However, I believe that with some adjustment and research we can find a way to make everyone happy. My solution advises that we support Obama’s nine dollars an hour minimum wage proposal. It will give the fast-food workers financial support, release the burden of the taxpayer’s assistance, and keep inflation balanced. Educated Americans and researchers biggest concern is that their minimum wage proposal is going to negatively affect our economy. For example, they predict that their wage is part of the labor cycle and if it increases it will raise prices for customers. In Brian Jencunas article, he expresses that, â€Å"Virtually anyone can do these jobs with very little training. This means the supply of potential labor exceeds the demand, making sala... ...ish Fast-Food Strikes | National Review Online." National Review Online. National Review Online, 5 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Murray, Matt. "SIEU President Mary Kay Henry Goes On The Colbert Report." NH Labor News. NH Labor News, 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Preston, Bryan. "PJ Media." The PJ Tatler RSS. PJ Media, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Sheasley, Chelsea B. "'Super-size' Strike: Why Fast-food Workers Walked out for Higher Wages." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Traub, Amy, and Catherine Ruetschlin. "Ten Reasons Why Fast Food Workers Deserve A Raise | Common Dreams." Common Dreams. Common Dreams, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Wong, Venessa. "This Is What Would Happen If Fast-Food Workers Got Raises." BloomBerg Business Week. Bloomberg L.P, 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

The Realm of Desire and Dream: Brazil and its Self-Constructing Middle Class of the 1980s, 1990s and Today :: Essays Papers

The Realm of Desire and Dream: Brazil and its Self-Constructing Middle Class of the 1980s, 1990s and Today The discourse of self-definition in Brazil is based on perceptions of economic success, material value and social prestige. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a general scramble to reconstruct individual identity in social success and achievement. â€Å"Assertions of moral and cultural (class and racial) superiority† make up the discourses of national and regional identity, while simultaneously setting up the social building blocks of discrimination and stratification (25). Through the strange consumption of not only goods, but the commodification of experiences, the Brazilian middle class sought to redefine their lives and social status, and ultimately create a world that thrives on social division and prejudice. In Maureen O’Doughterty’s Consumption Intensified, â€Å"the dual vision† of the â€Å"immediate reality of crisis and the desired reality of the First World† is shown to have shaped middle class consciousness and desire, and further deepen the marks of division within this â€Å"heterogeneous† middle class (O’Doughterty 15, 5). â€Å"Transnational consumption, in the form of travel experiences, especially to Disney World, and consumption of imported goods† is a surprising social construction of value and rank, and expresses the influence of a foreign ideal on Brazilian social identity (23). Sustained comfortable living, and superiority over another class of people, was desperately appealing to many Brazilian families in the throes of the economic crisis, as demonstrated by the commodification of a Disney experience in the United States through bought and displayed goods, and the suggestion of expense that goes with it. The suggestion of expense and wealth throughout the crisis shaped the new concept of a Brazilian middle class â€Å"character,† a quality of living that could not be removed by an instable economy and loss of existing values. The presentation and propagation of this â€Å"character† was an extension of the old lush life prior to the crisis, and a dogged determination to hold to â€Å"traditional values.† Throughout the economic crisis, the middle class wanted to be perceived as continuing to enjoy â€Å"lush private space where elevated social status is proclaimed, cared for, and safeguarded† (O’Doughterty 9). Yet the â€Å"sense of past and hopes were contradicted by the experience of inflation crisis,† and a new social construction of reality emerged that was tangible in all its effects and efforts (O’Doughterty 9). The act of consuming goods itself is political, and â€Å"consumption is central to middle-class self-definition, not only in prosperity, as has more usually been shown but in any and all circumstances, even in recession† (O’Doughterty 11).

Act I of the Crucible Essay

In reading the overture, before any dialogue takes place, we are given a small glimpse into the world of the Salemites. Miller speaks briefly of the town and the surrounding wilderness. The placement of Salem, surrounded by the impenetrable forest already starts building tension. The simple fact that forest is present prevents escape from Salem and therefore the inhabitants of Salem are unable to physically remove themselves from their problems and conflicts within the community. The forest itself is described as: ‘dark and threatening’, by Miller. This introduces an almost intangible danger and constant threat to the play. This alone will make the Salemites feel trapped; this pressured feeling being reflected throughout the play. More significant is the way in which the forest is said to be: ‘over their shoulders’. This creates a feeling that the inhabitants of Salem are being overshadowed by this great threat. As the play is a battle between light and dark, good and evil, this is particularly meaningful as it shows Salem being overpowered by the darkness. It also adds to the feelings of threat and menace the Salemites feel because it implies an unseen ‘something’ watching them. When viewed in a historical context the forest serves another purpose. At the time of writing McCarthyism was sweeping America. Although more obvious parallels are drawn later in the play I believe the forest represents the looming threat of being accused a communist sympathiser. The audience would empathise with the Salemites through this shared threat; this link would have been used by Miller to give the entire play more impact. Another way in which Miller creates a feeling of tension is through the language used in both stage directions and in the speech of the characters. Miller uses ‘power words’ to create an atmosphere of tension throughout the play. On the first page with speech, page six, words such as: ‘frightened’, ‘trouble’ and ‘fury’. It is evident from the start that Salem is not the perfect pilgrim village it is meant, and used, to be. The fact that something is wrong in this village, wrong enough to make a minister weep, and react with such violence grabs the attention of the audience instantly. The stage directions are particularly telling of the moods of characters. Page seventeen sees Abigail and Proctor alone for the first time and the tension between them is clearly visible. For example ‘Abigail has stood as though on tiptoe, absorbing his presence’, when someone is on tiptoe their entire body goes tense as though anticipating something. This may be a very literal way of showing us tension between Proctor and Abigail. Later, on the same page, Abigail ‘springs into his path’. Again the word spring suggests she has been coiled, tense, awaiting his movement and it is this anticipation that Miller uses to great effect when showing us chemistry between two characters. Of all things, perhaps the fear of the unknown is the most potent. Miller uses this from the start and builds tension around the fact that the audience has as little or less information about the preceding events as the characters. As both the audience and characters are apparently in the dark about events surrounding Betty’s condition there is again a link draw up between the two, this is used to the same effect as the McCarthyism link. Speech patterns also show the stress of the characters involved. For example, most characters start to shorten their words and speak in a far more rigid fashion than usual when feeling threatened or angry. These monosyllabic phrases litter the play and show the audience the rising conflicts in the community. On page twenty-six this is especially apparent. ‘He had no right to sell it’, says Putnam to Proctor. All the words in this sentence are monosyllabic, sharp and to the point. It is these changes that show the audience how the characters are really feeling. Miller uses these phrases to both show tension and to create it between characters throughout the play. Repetition plays an immense part in ‘The Crucible’. Specific words such as ‘evil’, ‘unnatural’ and most obviously ‘Devil’ are repeated to the point where they are appearing almost every page. Only Proctor and Paris seem set against the idea of supernatural tampering and even when the village is faced with a mass of evidence which supports more mundane explanations of events the cries of witchcraft are still as loud. It appears as if the Salemites want to believe Lucifer himself is threatening them. There is probably a lot of truth in that statement. The Salemites had fled England but a few generations ago and had done so to avoid persecution because of their beliefs. Now the Salemites are trapped and alone. It is ironic perhaps that their flight to freedom has in reality increased their isolation. Now they have no one to fight either. They were truly alone; perhaps the manic belief in Lucifer’s conquest of Salem was a release, an enemy against which they could fight the good fight. Without the unconverted heathens England offered it what was left but fighting the Devil himself or looking to your neighbour for anything that could be seen as an unholy blemish? The Salemites belief in the Devils power in Salem may have been started by the girls but was carried onwards and taken higher by almost all of the inhabitants of Salem, possibly because they wanted to believe in the corruption of their village. This scenario, as presented by Miller in Act I of ‘The Crucible’ is at the core of all tension throughout the play. Miller makes us see how incredibly dangerous society can be when in the grip of hysteria, the audience of then would have known all too well. Through uses of different devices Miller feeds and augments the underlying tension at key moments until we realise that some dreadful act must take place before the village will realises what it has done. What action could be interpreted as the Devil’s work in a society gone mad? As we see from Goody Nurses and Proctors hanging, anything. Act i of the crucible? Essay â€Å"In what important ways does Miller prepare us for the hysteria and the accusations of the witch-hunts in Act I of The Crucible? † In The Crucible, it was important for Miller to fully show that the witch-hunts in Salem were not some unforeseen, unpredictable chain of events, but the result of many different, precisely added elements. He, therefore, had to display to the inevitability of such events by revealing the true nature of the Salem’s society: unstable and extremely volatile. This instability among the people of Salem, stems mainly from their own insecurities. Any person heard to make a statement that is vaguely accusative is counter-attacked with a provocative statement far exceeding that of the first. Such an incident occurs when Proctor identifies Putnam’s support for the system of voting by acreage by saying Putnam â€Å"cannot command Mr Parris† because the society â€Å"votes by name†¦ not by acreage. † He says Putnam is arrogant in thinking that because he owns more land than Parris, he has the right to order him; the belief being that he is autocratic. Putnam, taking offence, responds by accusing Proctor of two other things. By stating that he didn’t â€Å"think [he] saw [Proctor] at the Sabbath meeting since the snow flew† he is questioning Proctor’s religious devotion using inflammatory language, which is a serious accusation in a theocracy like Salem. He is also saying that the idea of â€Å"one man: one vote† is void for Proctor because he doesn’t take the interest in the society that one man should. From a single remark by Proctor, two, far greater reactions were induced in Putnam. The result is an almost exponential escalation of emotions. This constant attacking and counter-attacking makes the people of Salem very insecure. These insecurities are combated by them putting up emotional barriers to contain their anger, envy or any other emotion that would render them liable to an attack. This is done by creating an external being that is responsible for a person’s inner evil: the Devil. Mrs Putnam displays this when she uses extremely inflammatory language in attempting to resolve Betty and Ruth’s mysterious sleep. She uses explicit imagery of the Devil and describes â€Å"death drivin’ into them, forked and hoofed†. This is an easily defensible point of view, because anyone who challenges it would be â€Å"trucking with the Devil† themselves and become open to attack. Mrs Putnam finds a vent for her anger at â€Å"seven dead in childbirth† with her provocative exclamations such as â€Å"it is surely the stroke of hell upon you† and â€Å"what person murdered my babies? â€Å". By asking that question, she is indirectly accusing anyone in the village. This shows a woman who is desperate to find an explanation for her misfortune and believes she will find it in the people of Salem who have been in contact with the Devil. She uses the Devil as a scapegoat and weights it with all her inner evils. She is, therefore, extremely enthusiastic to find someone who has been in contact with it in order to blame that person. With the entire village thrusting all their troubles and inner evils into a single element, a huge tension is created by the repression of their real emotions that are blamed on the Devil and the innate human desire to find someone else to blame; someone who is responsible for your evil and not, as Rebecca says, to â€Å"rather blame ourselves†. This livid search for a devil and the barriers that are put up by people create people who amalgamate together to form groups with their defining factor often being that of vengeance. Parris believes one of these groups or factions â€Å"is sworn to drive him from† his pulpit. They are not created by people actually admitting themselves, but by other people, usually in opposition, categorising them. Mrs Putnam identifies these groups when she describes the â€Å"wheels within wheels, fires within fires†. The society, therefore, fragments and divides itself. If, as Mrs Putnam shows, the people of Salem cannot accept their own evils and they believe the â€Å"Devil† cannot possibly be within them, that which defines them as a â€Å"good† person must be that which is not the â€Å"Devil†. Therefore, the â€Å"Devil† must, by nature of the society of Salem, be the thing which is diametrically opposed to the person of God and its location must be in a faction or group physically outside their house and spiritually outside their religion. Miller uses these groups to create a self-sustaining repression in Salem. As the people are forced by the factions to repress their feelings and emotions and keep them bottled up, their emotions are heightened by the constant arguments that take place. Act I is an introduction to the society and a period of time in which to show its many tensions. At the end of the act, the tension between all these emotions and the repression is released and Hale says himself that â€Å"it is broken, they are free. † This shows us that the unstable and volatile society is, indeed, at breaking point. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

People Become Overly Dependent on Technology

Environmental pollution and methods for treatment Pollution is the introduction of contaminates into the natural environment that cause adverse change , pollution can taken the form of chemical substances or energy such as noise , heat and light. The components of pollution can be either foreign substances, enrrgies or natural occurring contaminates . pollution is often classed as point source or non point source pollution. The BlackSmith issues an annual list of the world's worst ploouted places . n the 2007 issues the ten top nominess are located in Azerbaijan, China, India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine, Zambia. There are forms of pollution , which surround us from all directions . Firstly, Air pollution :- the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere common gaseous pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluoro carbons and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles . photochemical ozone and smog are created as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbo ns react to sunlight . econdly, light pollution :- include light trespass, over –illumination and astronomical interference . Thirdly, noise pollution :- which encompasses road way noise, air craft noise, industrial noise as well as high – industrial sonar. Fourthly, visual pollution:- which can refer to the presence of over head power lines , motor way bill boards , scarred landforms ( as form strip mining) ,open storage of trash, municipal solid waste or space debris . ifthly, water pollution:- by the discharge of untreated sewage , release of waste and contaminates into surface waters, discharges of untreated domestic sewage, and chemical contaminates into surface runoff flowing to surface waters . finally, thermal pollution:- is temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence , such as use of water as coolant in a power plant, also radio active contaminates resulting from 20th century activities in atomic physics , such as nuclear power generat ion and nuclear weapon research , manufacture and deployment.Effects of pollution on human health , adverse air quality can kill many organisms including humans , ozone pollution can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease , throat inflammation, chest pains and congestion, water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to contaminates of drinking water by untreated seage in developing countries. An estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a proper toilet and 1,000Indian children die of diarrhoeal sickness every day, Nearly 500 million Chinese lack access to safe drinking water , 656,000 people die prematurely each year in china because of air pollution . In India , air pollution is believed to cause 527,700 fatalities a year , studies have estimated that the number of people killed annually in the us could be cover 50,000. Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress and s leep disturbance.Mercury has been linked to developmental deficits in children and neurologic symptoms. Older people are majorly expose to disease induced by air pollution. Those with heart or lung disorders are under additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious risk. Lead and other heavy metals have been shown to cause neurological problems. Chemicals and radioactive substance can cause cancer and as well as birth defect.

Model Answer for Busniess Inovation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Model Answer for Busniess Inovation - Coursework Example According to the CEO Andy Harrison "EasyJet is now the UKs National airline. Passengers have clearly voted with their feet, boarding EasyJets aircraft more than any other airline. In a harsh economic environment, EasyJet’s continuous resilient performance is evidence to the superiority of its business model. Europe’s premier air transport network, strong customer proposition and service execution are associated to an extremely efficient operating model that is based on simplicity and low cost. Having to face an uncertain business climate such as severe completion, weak consumer confidence and with the hike in fuel and the volatility of currency, EasyJet is one of the few airlines globally to remain profitable during these harsh times. According to the Non Executive Interim Chairman Sir David Michels, these results were driven primarily through good revenue performance offsetting the  £86 million unit increase in fuel costs and  £31 million reduction in interest income. Easyjet’s marketing strategy took advantage of capacity cuts by other carriers to advance their position in the European short-haul market, capturing shares in important markets such as Milan, Paris, Madrid and London Gatwick and increasing our slot portfolio at congested airports by over 10%. Easyjet has plans to deliver growth of around 7.5% per annum over the coming five year. Easyjet looks to take advantage of the commercial opportunities apparent in European short-haul aviation, whilst delivering positive cash generation beyond the period of the higher than normal capital expenditure associated with the replacement of the more expensive Boeing subfleet. Easy Jet has a unique marketing strategy, rather than targeting leisure passengers, Easy Jet’s main target market are the business passengers who are more regular customers than leisure passengers as they fly more than leisure passengers. Easy Jet has also now focused more on internet marketing which is a lot cheaper than

Polymerase Chain Reaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Polymerase Chain Reaction - Essay Example Its name was coined from one of its key processes i.e. DNA polymerase. A DNA template is produced and the chain reaction that follows is the concluding part of the process. A major requirement of recombinant DNA techniques is the "availability of large quantities of specific DNA segment" (Bastianutto et al 2006). Cloning which was the preferred method involves transformation of a plasmid vector into bacteria that is then cultured. The cloning process is not as efficient as PCR in terms of amplification of DNA. In addition PCR can allow the generation of millions of copies of DNA from a single or few pieces. PCR occurs in stages, the Initialization, Denaturation, Annealing, Extension/elongation, Final elongation. The Initialization step involves heating to 94-96C. After the heating stage, Denaturation produces a single DNA strand. This is caused by breaking the hydrogen bonds between DNA strands, thus causing the melting of the DNA template and primers. Temperature is lowered during the annealing step. Here primers are bound to the single stranded DNA template by the polymerase. At the Extension/elongation the DNA polymerase produces a new DNA strand by adding dNTPs. The last PCR cycle is the Final elongation, the step is done to ensure that all single stranded DNA are fully extended.

Transformation of work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transformation of work - Assignment Example Focus groups in both hotels were interviewed and, using the results of the survey, for each hotel there was made a conclusion concerning soft skill environment. Notwithstanding the awaited expectations, the results appeared to be completely different. All in all, the authors of the article agree that the traditional conception of â€Å"skill† has somehow changed and it is now associated not only with technical knowledge, but also with interpersonal communication abilities. They have brought a new notion and â€Å"strengthened the conceptual understanding of soft skills† (2013: 176) by showing how these skills perform in two cases. This is a considerable contribution to traditional sociology, service economy and even trade industry. The issue of skill nature is the subject of ongoing discussions in sociology of work in particular. This phenomenon was investigated and studied by a number of scientists. Traditional notion of skill was with the course of time complemented with additional shades, thus social or soft skills become recognized (Grugulis et al., 2004). They are treated in different ways. For instance, Bolton (2004) argues that emotion work can be skilled. According to her, soft skilled workers have enough scope for discretion and are able to deal with a variety of tasks. However, there is another point of view. Lloyd and Payne (2009) consider the idea of promoting soft skills inadequate and even dangerous. They argue that it is impossible to train the skills of social interaction, so soft skills cannot be regarded equal to technical ones. It is worthy of note that both aforementioned approaches have their drawbacks. The first, positive view has its exceptions. Being emotional or communicative is not enough for a work to be regarded as skilled. And on the other hand, the negative approach has its weak point. Technical skills which imply specific knowledge are simply